Geb, however, personified the landscape as well as the earth’s fertility. Many of the natural disasters ascribed to secondary gods in other religions were the result of Geb’s actions to the Egyptians. This may be because he was seen as an active figure in many more aspects of the earth than the traditional mother goddess.Īlthough he fed the people of Egypt and used the land to keep them safe, Geb was not necessarily a protective and nurturing deity. Geb, however, represented a reversal of this standard archetype. The things that grew from it were likened to a child growing within its mother, and the nourishing aspects of the earth’s produce also linked it to motherhood. My Modern InterpretationĮgypt was one of only a handful of ancient societies to imagine the earth in a masculine form. While some legends had Horus defeating Set outright, others said that Geb stepped in and divided Upper and Lower Egypt between the two gods.Įgypt as a whole was sometimes called the House of Geb in recognition of both his position as the land itself and as the originator of kingship. Geb’s role as the god of the Nile Valley was shown in how he divided himself between his heirs.Īfter Osirus’s death, Horus and Set argued over who would inherit his throne. Barley grew from his ribs, stretching upward toward his wife.Īs the god of the fertile earth, the Egyptians believed he represented the lands they lived in specifically. More often, however, Geb was seen as a representation of the earth’s fertility. He is sometimes shown with a human body and the head of the snake to represent this connection. In this tradition, Geb is known as the father of snakes as well as of the gods.

While later myths said that he created the desert as a barrier to keep Egypt safe, earlier legends sometimes claimed that he was connected to its dangers himself. Originally, however, Geb represented the harsh desert as well as the arable land of Egypt. He is the physical representation of the fertile land of the Nile Valley. In these images, Geb generally has dark green skin. He was depicted as a lounging male figure with his star-covered sister arched above him and his father keeping them apart. Geb was often shown with his father and sister in art. He placed himself between them, which is why the air fills the space between the earth and the sky. Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys were their sons and daughters.Įventually, Shu was able to force his son and daughter apart. Geb and Nut soon had four children of their own. Together, they were powerful forces of creation. Geb was the god of the earth and Nut was the goddess of the sky. Geb and his sister Nut were born intertwined and resisted all efforts to separate them. He created Shu, the god of the air, and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture. They were the creators of the world and everything that lived on it, including humankind, and were the first rulers of Egypt.Īccording to the creation myth from Heliopolis, an androgynous god called Atum emerged from the primordial waters. In the mythology of Heliopolis, a group of nine deities called the Ennead were the supreme beings. In ancient times, Heliopolis was a center of both political and religious power at different points in its history. Many of the most well-known myths came from Heliopolis, an important ancient city on the site of modern-day Cairo.

Over the thousands of years that its culture flourished, ancient Egyptian mythology often included different legends, gods, and interpretations of the world. While Geb was a powerful source of authority and life, he was also a disinterested god who could destroy a mighty kingdom without a thought. The Egyptian view of the earth god was therefore a complex one. While the valley produced enough food to feed an empire, it was boarded by a harsh desert that was associated with death. The unique geography and culture of Egypt meant that the earth was seen as both hostile and life-giving. Though sometimes seen only as the god of the fertile Nile Valley, he had a broader role as the god of the entire landscape. One of the principal gods of Heliopolis, Geb represented the land of Egypt itself.

In contrast to the Mother Earth archetype common around the world, Geb was the male god of the earth’s virility. Ancient Egypt was one of the few cultures that depicted the fertile earth as a male deity.

Egyptian god osiris